Grease cup



Patented June 21, 1927.

UNITED sra,rE-,5,

PATENT orme N-IGHOLAS W; TRAUm-Nnn, or snraUL, MINNESOTA.

y GREASE CUP,

Appucaaon mea apra 4, 1925.- serial No. aac-:5a

This invention relates togre'ase cups particularly, although not exclusively, adapted for use upon railway locomotives;

As is well'lknowmit' is common practice to' provice machines of many kinds with grease cups or receptacles connected byv suitable tubes or passageways with theV bearings.: to be lubricated, and to furnish in each receptacle a plunger which maybe periodically operated to force lubricant upon the bearings. In one type of such lubricating devices the plungers are threaded in the cups. Due to the vibration of the machines these plungers frequently work out of the cups, causing improper lubrication, and are frequently lost during the travel of the train with resulting expense of replacing plungers. Attempts have been made to pre- `vent loss of the plungers by providing springs which press upon the plungers from within the cups, but as far as applicant is aware, none of these devices are suitable for use on the type of cup used upon railway rolling stock.

It is my object to providea novel, simple and efficient device adapted to prevent the loss of plungers from grease cups suitable for railway use.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the best form of my device at present known to me. In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of my improved grease cup; Fig. 2 is a central, vertical section through the same and Fig. Sis a side elevation of the device.

As illustrated, I provide a grease recep tacle or body 4, adapted to be mounted in any convenient place upon a machine, where it may be connected by suitable tubes or passageways with the bearings to be lubricated. An axial bore 5 in the cup body 4 is threaded to fit a. plunger 6 for forcing the grease to the bearings. A conical portion 7 on the plunger 6 is arranged with its periphery tapering downward gradually, and above the portion 7 is a squared head 8 adapted to be turned by a suitable wrench. Encircling the conical portion 7 of the plunger is an endless, helical spring 9 adapted to exert inward, radial pressure about the plunger. then the plunger 6 is withdrawn from the body 4, this spring v9 is maintained on the conical surface by engagement with an angular shoulder 10 at the upper extremity of the plunger threads.

In use, to fill the body 4 with grease, it

isonly necessary to remove the plunger Giby unscrewing the same fromlthe threaded. bore Ac'cordingi to the present railway prac tire, bars of hard 'greasey are furnishedto fit the bores 5 of the grease cups, andv my invention requires noI departurev from; the practice. Afterv inserting the en'dof a grease bar in'\ the body 4, the projecting portion. is severedl and the plunger' isturned into the threaded bore 5. No pressure is exerted by the spring 9 upon the body 4 until the plunger reaches approximately the position shown in Figure 2, but further turning'of theV plunger into the body presses the sprinvr 9 upon the portion 7 of larger diameter and causes the spring to exert pressure upon the open end of the cup body 4. The spring 9 now opposes turning of the plunger by frict-ional engagement with the body 4 and also opposes any lateral movement of the plunger in the body of the cup, which otherwise might be permitted. As more lubricant is required upon the bearings, the head 8 isy merely turned to carry the plunger into the body 4 and expel grease therefrom.`

It will be noted that the spring 9 is compact andl inconspicuous, has marked eiliciency in gripping the plunger, and possesses the further advantageof in no way interfering with inserting the plunger in the llaving described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Let-- ters Patent is 1. A grease cup comprising, a threaded body having an end opening, a plunger lthreaded to fit said body and adapted to be turned into the same, a conical portion are ranged on said plunger to ext-end, small end foremost, into said opening, and a circular spring disposed about said conical portion and in engagement with the open end of said body, said spring being arranged to resilentlsly oppose turning of said plunger in said 2. A grease cup comprising, a hollow body having an end opening, a'plunger adapted to be forcibly extended into said body, a conical portion arranged onl said plunger to be expended, small end foremost, into said body, and an annular spring disposed about said conical portion to exert inward, radial pressure thereon, said spring being disposed to abut against the open end of said body to frictionally oppose withdrawal of said plunger therefrom,

3. A grease cup comprising a hollow body having an end opening, a plunger adapted to be forcibly extended into said body, a conical port-ion arranged on said plunger to be extended, small end foremost, into said body, an endless, coiled spring" disposed about said conical portion to exert inward, radial pressure thereon, and an annular shoulder adj acentto the smaller end of said conical portion adapted to maintain Vsaid spring on said plunger, said spring being disposed to abut against the open end of said body to frictionally` oppose Withdrawal of said plunger therefrom. y

4. A grease cup comprising, an internally threaded body having an end opening, a plunger threaded toit said body and adapt- `said spring being arranged to resilientl oppose turning of said plunger `in said ody, and an annular abutment disposed on the plunger between its threaded portion'` and the smaller end of said tapered portion whereby said spring is maintained on the yplunger when the same is removed from said body. y y

y In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

` NIoHoLAs W. TRAUTNER. 

